


the speed of light

by floweringbloom



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Gen, Self-Indulgent, Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine Universe, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 19:12:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19068904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floweringbloom/pseuds/floweringbloom
Summary: From the moment ANBU Bat and Wolf land in the past, they've already messed things up.





	the speed of light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DawningStar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawningStar/gifts).



"So," Bat starts, "it's not _all_ bad news."

Wolf side-eyes her. How he manages it with a mask covering his face is still beyond her. "Try to talk it up a little more," he suggests mildly. "What's the better news?"

"Well... we're definitely near a Konoha." Bat tilts her head and waggles a hand, not in any particular sign. "And it even feels like it could be our Konoha! In the future."

Wolf's mask tips from Bat to the very visible Hokage mountain looming in the distance. The four faces on it speak louder than any expression he could make. "I never would have guessed," he says. "'Could be'?"

Bat was hoping he wouldn't pick up on that. "Well, you know," she says, "time travel, the Butterfly Effect... That is, if you step on a butterfly in the past, what effect could spiral out from that in the future? I think the timeline is fairly robust as long as we make an effort not to change anything, but."

But. 

Wolf's chakra is impassive, his mask unreadable, but Bat can see the faintly abashed shift of his grip on the unconscious chunin over his shoulder. 

It's not like she can blame him, really. If she'd been dropped unexpectedly into the Uchiha Massacre it'd be a toss-up as to whether she'd take on Uchiha Madara (or was it Obito?) and Itachi single-handedly to leave tiny Sasuke some family behind, and who Kakashi is is tied inextricably to his past. Sure, perhaps they could have managed things better - she's pretty sure actual(?) Uchiha Madara escaped and there was one too many Zetsu involved in a way that makes her wonder if she missed some key plot Before - but, on the plus side, Uchiha Obito is alive.

On the minus side, Uchiha Obito is unconscious, in need of far more expert (though thankfully not urgent) medical attention than Bat alone can provide, and this is not their Konoha.

She can't even suggest they leave him nearby; it goes against every notion of teamwork that Kakashi drilled into her head, and common decency besides. Senju Tsunade is a better option, but Kakashi unmasked is _recognisable_ in a way that might cause problems. "I could take him to Tsunade-sama," she offers, after a beat. A moment too late she realises that if Obito is about her age, the local Kakashi must be, too. He might not even be in ANBU.

Bat is suddenly struck anew with the realisation of just why Wolf was so concerned about her and Sasuke. All things considered, teenage Wolf was probably a traumatised disaster, the likes of which Hawk-taicho would have endlessly worried about.

"Or we could, together," she adds. "Or… have the security protocols changed in Konoha?"

"Hm," Wolf says thoughtfully. "Well, my little kohai, as much as I'd like to let you continue leading this reconnaissance mission, I think the parameters have changed enough it might be the time for you to let your senpai step in."

"Oh, thank god," Bat says. 

"I won't mark it against you," Wolf says, mask tilting in the way that means he's smiling. "This is a freebie. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"Yes," Bat says wryly, "I'll make sure to be more prepared the next time we accidentally end up in the past in a hopefully-alternate universe."

"Never say never," Wolf says, surprisingly ominously, and then gestures: _follow me_.

Bat does, with as much stealth as she can manage. Wolf slips through the gap between two patrols with the ease of a veteran, and skates past both the Konoha hospital and ANBU headquarters to head straight for the Hokage's office. Bat would never have gone for it directly herself, but she assumes Wolf knows what he's doing.

It could just be that he's strong enough it doesn't matter. Bat is becoming increasingly thankful it isn't her and Hawk in this mess.

"Yo," Wolf says lackadaisically when he drops in through the window. The moment when he drops stealth Bat feels the cutting-tornado stir of the Fourth Hokage's chakra, a spike so heavy with sudden intent it nearly blocks out his ANBU guard - and it's gone a fraction of a second later, as if it were never there at all. Wolf appears unphased as he raises a hand in an unenthusiastic wave. "A delivery for you. Sorry it's late; it got lost on the road of life."

Bat does her best to appear unremarkable behind him. She doesn't know how good a sensor he is, but Namikaze Minato takes one look at Wolf's unconscious passenger and gestures sharply; a moment later he's being carted away to what Bat hopes is proper medical care, out of Orochimaru or Danzo's grasp. The Fourth's ANBU flit out of the room and out of Bat's sensory range, and she feels the shiver of chakra in the air as the privacy seals engage.

"Wolf, is it?" Minato says. "And…?"

"Bat. My student," Wolf says. "It's good to see you, sensei."

"Ah," Minato says, "so it's time travel, then? I think it's happened to me before," he directs at Bat, who isn't quite fast enough at hiding her surprise, "but I had to make myself forget afterward. Do you need help getting back?"

Wolf glances back at her. Bat shifts awkwardly on her feet. "I don't… think it's quite the same," she says. "Um, we've made some changes to the timeline already so hopefully this is a Trousers of Time situation… meaning this timeline split from ours the moment we came back. We'll need to find the right trouser leg."

"So you're suggesting alternate decisions cause alternate universes?" Minato asks, sounding fascinated. "It's not impossible, but then the scope of finding a specific one - "

Wolf cuts in, "Maa, not to interrupt, but you might want to keep an eye on Orochimaru around your student."

"Right," Bat agrees quickly, feeling embarrassed. Minato's expression shifts, steady and expectant, and it's here that Bat knows why he was chosen to take the hat.

They share information as best they can. Bat finds herself talking more than she should, just for the chance that this Konoha won't end up on the knife's-edge of destruction like their own still might. And Minato is Naruto's father, the person best in place to stop the Uchiha Massacre before it starts; she would be stupid to waste that advantage, and Shikako is a Nara.

So she adds a warning about Akatsuki when Wolf shares what little they learnt about Uchiha Madara; she offers what she knows and can verify about their members, about the regime change in Rain, a dozen links tied together by the flimsiest of chains. And Danzo: Kakashi knows about ROOT, of course, but Shikako has seen Sai's seal and Bat makes a mental note to ask Minato for tips on a counter, if he has some.

Wolf's mask tilts toward her the first time she says something he might not know, and by the end, she can feel the weight of his attention hovering over her like she's earthwalking metres under dirt. Minato takes in everything they say with the gravity it deserves and even with Kakashi, even with everything, Bat can't regret saying it. She can't regret saving these people, so similar to the ones she knows.

Maybe that's what Wolf was thinking, the moment they stumbled across Obito in that cave. If anyone would understand…

And then Minato sends them away to check on Obito himself, and they're alone again. 

"So," Wolf says conversationally, "what do you think? Should we stretch the mission out a week?"

"I haven't even worked out our way back yet," Bat says, unconvincingly. "Maybe? In theory, even if we can't jump across to our timeline, we could head back to before this one diverged - forward time travel's easy, it's only backwards that's hard. And we've done that before."

"Mm," Wolf says. If he weren't wearing his ANBU gear, Bat thinks he would already be pretending to be nose-deep in a book. "So, a week?"

"Aren't you the new team leader now, senpai?" Bat deflects.

"A week, then." Wolf nods, satisfied, then reaches out and taps the nose on Bat's mask. "You'll never be a team captain with that attitude, my cute little kohai."

"I didn't really… want to be?"

Wolf shrugs, then fixes her in place with a look. "Now, about those secrets…"

Bat's palms go dry. She can probably provide enough circumstantial evidence for most of the things she knows; Sai explains Danzo, her work with Intel and informants some of the composition of Akatsuki. But Kakashi knows her, her tells and her weaknesses, her strengths and her heart, and she doesn't want to have to lie.

"Bat-chan," Wolf starts, not quite looming over her but certainly standing with _intent_. "Remind me: what was rule number one, again?"

Bat swallows. "…No dying?"

"Right," Wolf says, his blank mask forbidding as he leans in. He lifts his hand and pats her head, right between her two bat-ear-shaped buns. "Don't forget." 

"...Okay," Bat says. She crosses her fingers behind her back. "I won't."


End file.
